<p> In recent years, there has been increased attention on teacher quality and on teacher candidate development (Cochran-Smith &amp; Zeichner, 2005; Schuster, 2012). Demands on teachers are growing (Darling-Hammond &amp; Bransford, 2005) with an expanding diversity and needs of students (Villegas &amp; Lucas, 2002; Walsh, 2012). Now, more than ever, it is important to understand how candidates are prepared for the teaching profession (Ladson-Billings, 2001). This study examined one vital aspect of teacher education: the role of teacher educators in preparing candidates to partner with families. In spite of substantial evidence of a positive correlation to students&rsquo; academic success with increased partnerships between the home and school (Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, &amp; Weiss, 2006; Epstein &amp; Sheldon, 2002; Henderson &amp; Mapp, 2002; Hoover-Dempsey, Battiato, Walker, Reed, DeJong, &amp; Jones, 2001; Jeynes, 2007), teacher candidates still lack the necessary skills to work with families (Caspe, Lopez, Chu, &amp; Weiss, 2011). This study used critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework to investigate how teacher educators applied family-school partnership (FSP) modules into their courses. Through a qualitative phenomenological research design, interview and survey data were collected and analyzed on 11 teacher educators and 200 candidates over a two-year period of time. The constant comparative method (Merriam, 2009) was conducted to analyze multiple interviews of the teacher educators, which was triangulated (Stake, 2004) with surveys of teacher candidates. Findings indicated that (a) teacher educators&rsquo; FSP beliefs were positively influenced by piloting of FSP modules, (b) teacher educators&rsquo; locus of control affected their ability to apply FSP content into their courses, and (c) teacher candidates&rsquo; one-sided views of family-school relationships could be changed to one of &ldquo;partnerships.&rdquo; The implications of this research affirm the need to support teacher educators in preparing their candidates to work with families.</p>

<p> Many teachers describe teaching as a vocation. Similar to a priest, rabbi, imam, nun or monk, a teacher may feel morally justified to break policy or go against curriculum that they feel is immoral or oppressive. The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which teachers resist or rebel in their classrooms when the policies or curriculum go against their beliefs. Furthermore, I aim to understand the implications of their resistance or rebellion. This study&rsquo;s findings are taken from observations and interviews with two elementary teachers. The results demonstrate that in order to help their students succeed, teachers may work around or silently disobey policy and curriculum. As this study highlights, the impact of resistance or rebellion is felt in different ways by schools, teachers, and students.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to address the facilitation of difficult knowledges in the classroom. I employ constructs of poststructural feminism to critique rationalist-only frameworks that limit the forms of knowledge that "count" in the construction of knowledge. In response to these critiques, this dissertation constructs an alternative pedagogical framework from a psychoanalytic and poststructural feminist lens that emphasizes the bordered landscapes of the un/conscious. This approach is named Intimate Transgressive Pedagogy (ITP). Additionally, this dissertation introduces an empirical study that explored one semester of classroom teaching using Intimate Transgressive Pedagogy. Student and teacher experiences are analyzed through the theoretical concepts of ITP with a further discussion of the implications of the pedagogical concepts and empirical findings for multicultural teacher education.</p>

<p> The public education system in the U.S. has been under assault with the latest neoliberal education reforms. Those reforms are characterized by their antidemocratic and homogenizing assessment system, which reinforces a banking model of education. Such model goes against teachers and teaching, linguistic and cultural diversity and bilingual education. In order to countervail this reality, this research urged pre-service teachers in a <i>Foundations of Bilingual Education/ ESL</i> college coursework to engage in a problem-posing and emancipatory pedagogy. The main purpose was for them to nurture and enhance political clarity and political agency in issues of bilingual and ESL education. Students not only engaged in dismantling hegemonic discourses in bilingual and ESL education in the U.S., but also went through an epistemological break when the teacher-researcher invited students to become co-researchers in order to co-construct the curriculum and pedagogical realities. Readings, journals, personal narratives, dialogue and theater of the oppressed became the vehicles for engagement. The transformative process of the teacher-researcher and co-researchers occurred when they deliberately transitioned from a pedagogy that promotes passive citizens to a pedagogy that promotes collective emancipation. The research paradigm that aligned with those experiences was Participatory Action Research (PAR). Central to PAR is radical participatory democracy. Through self-collective development and reliance, participants transform themselves and find alternatives to defeat injustices. Pre-service and in-service teachers and teacher education can benefit from the following results: (1) <i> the transformative effect of a dialogic research (2) the lessons the teacher-researcher learned (3) how theater of the oppressed could have been central to the vivencia, instead it was supplementary and still the door for infinite possibilities (4) the viability of PAR as a vivencia embedded in undergraduate education major and (5) the extraordinary case of Sofia's (co-researcher) ongoing advocacy. </i></p><p>

<p> This thesis examined graduate level students' experiences of (mainly gender) diversity in the online classroom. The philosophical framework for this study came from John Rawls' work utilizing the veil of ignorance as a strategy to create more objective determinations free from situational and circumstantial biases. Both critical pedagogy and the theory that individuals construct social and cultural meaning through communication provided the theoretical foundations for the thesis. The study analyzed experiences of the students via their contributions to the online discussion boards. The study also utilized interviews of current and former students to discuss their experiences with diversity in their online classrooms. The study came from an understanding that diversity represents a unique component of the online classroom and rests in the idea that students can all benefit from the diversity of other students' experiences. This work provides a jumping off point of analysis on how best to facilitate discussions of diversity in the online classroom. Facilitating these discussions can become a primary way to break down systemic and institutionalized inequalities that exist for minority groups. Thus, this research, while not the end point, can provide a continued impetus to discover ways to make the online classroom a place of equalized learning to maximize its purpose for all students regardless of their identity. Chief findings in the study indicate the following (not-exhaustive) items: students overwhelmingly report that they value diversity conversations; students do not seem to think that conflicting ideas represent an inherent negative; and student's see the role of the instructor in facilitating, but not inserting personal commentary into the diversity discussions.</p>

<p> Preschool teachers must overcome the pressure to become more academic in lieu of a whole child development curriculum approach in order to preserve developmentally appropriate practices and shape well-adjusted future citizens of society. In order to achieve this, it is important to give a voice to preschool teachers to better understand their struggle and to find effective resolutions. This is only possible through a qualitative case study that employs observations, interviews, and a focus group with an inductive analysis approach to the data. The development of the whole child will only be attainable through national policies that are supported by sound research and ongoing teacher training that is aligned with that research. When theory and practice are aligned, it provides more opportunities for teachers, parents, and the rest of the community to advocate for the same goals, which ultimately benefits children.</p>

<p>The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how educators describe their lived experiences with regard to addressing social skills challenges for children with ASD and what meaning can be derived from the experiences of those educators. Digitally recorded semistructured interviews were conducted with twelve educators working in school settings in Southern California. The participants held a variety of titles and all participants had at least six years of experience teaching social skills to children with ASD. Findings from this study resulted in five major thematic groups: (a) defining social skills; (b) how social skills are assessed; (c) program characteristics; (d) instructional and standardization challenges; and (e) critical factors. Study findings primarily indicated a need for a more structured approach to research due to the diversity within the ASD diagnosis and the complexity and broad nature of social skills. Two major recommendations for future research evolved from this study. First, future research should systematically explore the varying characteristics within the ASD population and how intervention strategies or intervention types impact the subpopulations within the ASD diagnosis. Finally, research should explore social motivation as a possible pivotal characteristic for successful social skills development and whether it is possible to cultivate motivation. </p>

<p> The present study used a multiple probe across participants design with an embedded generalization measure to examine the effect of systematic and explicit instruction of text-based listening comprehension strategy instruction through the implementation of two concurrent dependent variables: listening comprehension responses to wh- questions and communicative turn-taking during a discussion of those texts. Participants were four high school students with moderate to severe disabilities and commThe present study used a multiple probe across participants design with an embedded generalization measure to examine the effect of systematic and explicit instruction of text-based listening comprehension strategy instruction through the implementation of two concurrent dependent variables: listening comprehension responses to wh- questions and communicative turn-taking during a discussion of those texts. Participants were four high school students with moderate to severe disabilities and communication needs supported by augmentative and alternative communication. Additional analyses included the generalization of these effects to a special education classroom group discussion, the target student&rsquo;s view of the intervention, and the classroom staff&rsquo;s view of the changes observed between baseline and intervention communicative turn-taking by target participants with disabilities.unication needs supported by augmentative and alternative communication. Additional analyses included the generalization of these effects to a special education classroom group discussion, the target student&rsquo;s view of the intervention, and the classroom staff&rsquo;s view of the changes observed between baseline and intervention communicative turn-taking by target participants with disabilities. </p><p>

<p> This qualitative single case study on backward design lesson planning experiences of teachers in a professional learning community focused on gaining a better understanding of collaborative planning of standards-based learning intentions, success criteria, assessments, and activities as performed by four participants meeting daily in one high school content area department. The backward design lesson planning model contains three stages, including development of standards-based learning objectives, learning objective-based assessments, and assessment criteria-based authentic learning activities. The research problem was informed by multiple selections from the body of literature in the field of education on backward design lesson planning, curriculum evaluation frameworks, and suggestions for a need to better understand collaborative planning, backward design curricula, professional development-informed planning and practice, and professional learning community interactions in designing curricula. The purpose of the study was to better understand how teachers develop standards-derived learning intentions, success criteria, assessments, and activities through the backward design lesson planning model. The conceptual framework was constructed from a synthesis of findings from quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods peer-reviewed research reports in the field of curriculum and teaching. Synthesized findings informed the structure and sections of the conceptual framework, supporting the purpose of the research in better understanding connections between components of traditional linear curriculum evaluation, the three stages of backward design, and the need to better understand interactions between professional development practice of new curriculum development initiatives, implementation of new initiatives in professional learning community lesson plan design, and teacher perceptions of planning lessons through the lens of backward design. Through observational field notes and open-ended questionnaires pertaining to the three stages of backward design lesson development, teacher actions observed during professional learning community meetings and experiences noted by teachers on questionnaire forms indicated that teachers utilized their common lesson planning time in deriving learning objectives from content area standards, generating formative assessments for ongoing feedback to inform teaching and learning, generating rubrics for clarity in the relationship between success criteria and the satisfying of learning objectives, and sequencing activities based on ability levels of individual learners so that challenges were scaffolded based on cognitive complexity, with the goal of all students meeting learning objectives. Potential impacts of study results include integration of backward design lesson planning into professional development programs and professional learning community curriculum development programs for alignment, clarity, and congruency between content area department standards, objectives, assessments, and activities. Recommendations for future research informed by minor themes uncovered during the study include a need for further study of teacher perceptions of standards-based grading practices.</p><p>

This research study was motivated by a hypothesis, generated on the basis of formal and informal observations, personal and professional experiences, discussions with prospective teachers and a pilot study conducted by this author; that pre-service teachers have a high level of mathematics anxiety and negative attitudes about mathematics. The primary purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between mathematics anxiety and pre-service teachers. The secondary purposes of this study were to examine the relationship between anxiety and performance and to examine the relationship between math anxiety, test anxiety, and stereotype threat. A quantitative experimental research design was used to investigate the research questions. The population consisted of prospective teachers at colleges and universities in Louisiana. The sets of data are mathematics anxiety of prospective teachers, a test anxiety inventory and a mathematics performance task. A personal data questionnaire was used to gather demographic information and attitudinal information about the participants. The implications of this study for elementary teacher education programs point to increased attention on the mathematics anxiety of pre-service teachers. This process is two-fold. One, it is recommended that pre-service teachers be made aware of their mathematics anxiety level and their attitudes about mathematics and two, it is recommended that teacher education programs acknowledge and address the importance of these affective variables and their role in pedagogy.